Search Google Appliance

Calculating Machines

Maker Index

Calculating machines were known by the names of inventor (Baldwin, Barbour, Bolleé, Grant), famous mathematicians (Archimedes), desired characteristics (Millionaire, Rapid), and investors (Monroe). The following list makes it easier to see related products. Trade names are used instead of company names as these show up most frequently on objects.

This manually operated, non-printing calculating machine has a brass top painted black that fits closely into a roll-top wooden case, sloping toward the operator. Eight German silver levers on the machine rotate counterclockwise to set a digit. The number entered appears in a row of windows over the levers. Above this row is a steel rod with one sliding decimal marker.

The handle for operating the machine is right of the levers. The zeroing lever for the entry, as well as the addition & multiplication / subtraction & division lever, are left of the eight German silver levers. Left of this is a compartment with room for an inkwell and loose pieces. The cover of this compartment is missing and it is empty.

Behind the levers is a carriage with nine revolution register windows and 16 result register windows. Both registers have thumbscrews for setting numbers and sliding decimal markers. There is no carry in the revolution register. Two levers on the right side of the carriage zero its registers.

When the entry in the result register would become negative (as in subtraction or division), a bell rings. It rings again if a number is added to bring the total to zero or more.

The brass stepped drums are visible through a sliding panel in the bottom of the case. Metal lifting handles are on both ends of the case.

The machine is marked above the entry windows: REUTER’S (/) MULTIPLYING AND DIVIDING MACHINE (/) PHILADELPHIA,PA. Metal tags toward the front of the machine read: D.R.G.M. 394014 and: AUSL. PAT. ANGEM. A mark under the operating crank reads: D.R.G.M. (/) 329403. A mark to the left of the entry levers reads: PATENT (/) DEUTSCHLAND No. 217048 (/) OSTERREICH ANGEM. The serial number, inscribed under the carriage on the machine at the right, is 1363.

This is an example of the Saxonia calculating machine made by Schumann and Company in the German city of Glasshütte, and imported and distributed by the Philadelphia firm of Carl H. Reuter. Reuter advertised as an importer of the Brunsviga and Burkhardt calculating machines in 1906. A machine with a later serial number is from 1913.

This machine was used at the Sproul Observatory of Swarthmore College.

In 1895, Otto Steiger, a Swiss citizen residing in Munich, obtained a U.S. patent for a calculating machine that would multiply a number by a single digit directly, with only a single turn of a crank. Earlier calculating machines required considerably more effort. Steiger’s machine was produced in Zurich by the firm of Hans W. Egli and came to be used in American government offices and businesses.

This lever-set, manually operated non-printing direct multiplication machine has a brass mechanism and a metal case with lid. The lid and the flat plates that cover the mechanism are painted black. The carriage is entirely contained within the case. Eight German silver levers are pulled forward to enter numbers. To the left of these is a crank which may be set anywhere between 0 and 9 for direct multiplication and division. To the right of the digit levers is a lever which may be set at addition, multiplication, division, or subtraction. Right of it is the operating crank.

In front of the levers is a row of eight windows that indicate the number set on the levers. This row of windows is labeled: DIVISOR. In front of this is the carriage, with two other rows of windows. The row closest to the levers (further from the front) indicates the multiplier or quotient, and the other row, the result or the dividend. The result windows are labeled: DIVIDEND. They may be set with a dividend using thumbscrews. Zeroing knobs for both these registers are on the carriage. Between the digit windows for all three registers are holes for decimal markers. A total of two decimal markers survive. Between the front two registers, at the left, is a button used to shift the carriage.

Instructions for operating the machine, and related tables, are given in English on a paper sheet on the inside of the lid. The lid also holds a brush for cleaning the machine and a safety screw. A bell rings when the sign of the result changes (as in over division). The entire machine rests on stand 1986.3114.02.

A mark in the middle front of the top of the machine reads: THE MILLIONAIRE. A metal tag on the right reads: Hans W. Egli (/) Ingenieur (/) Fabrikation von Rechenmaschinen (/) Pat. O. Steiger (/) ZURICH II.. A metal tag on the left reads: W.A. Morschhauser (/) SOLE AGENT (/) 1 Madison Avenue (/) NEW YORK CITY. The serial number, stamped under the tag on the right, reads: No 1132. A mark right of this reads: MADE IN SWITZERLAND.

This machine was part of the office furniture of the now-defunct Calumet and Hecla Copper Company in Calumet, Michigan. That firm was in business from the later 1860s to the 1940s.

Precise dating of Millionaire calculating machines is uncertain. Daniel Lewin has estimated that machines with serial number 500 date from 1900, those with serial number 1600 from 1905, and those with serial number 2800 from 1910. If this is accurate, machines with serial number in the 1100s would date from before 1905. The Spectator Company, a New York publisher of books on insurance and distributor of calculating machines advertised the Millionaire in 1903. Morschhauser is described as the distributor from at least 1905 onward, hence a rough date of 1904 for this machine.

The large heavy adding and calculating machines that began to sell widely in the early 20th century were not easy to move about. Purchasers also often bought metal stands like this one. The object is painted black and has four rubber feet. Stands for smaller machines would often have a shelf on which the operator could place related paperwork.

This full-keyboard, electric non-printing modified stepped drum calculating machine has a dark gray steel frame, a light gray keyboard and carriage, and ten columns of oblong plastic keys in two shades of gray. At the bottom of each column is a key for clearing it. Between the columns of keys and under the keyboard are metal rods, painted red on one side and the same gray as the keyboard on the other. They turn to serve as decimal markers.

To the right of the number keys are subtraction and addition bars, two carriage shift keys, and a multiplier key. Below these are two buttons, one of which is depressed when entries are repeated and the other depressed for non-repeating entries. This section also has a multiply/divide lever. Below these are three other function keys and a gray clear-keyboard key. Beneath the number keys are five additional function keys.

In back of the keyboard is a carriage with ten dials to show a number set up for multiplication, 20 dials to show the result, and a row of ten dials that serves as a revolution counter. Sliding decimal markers are provided. A two-pronged gray electrical cord attaches to the back.

An incomplete mark on the left side reads: omatic. A mark on the front reads: Classmate. Another mark there reads: li. A paper sticker glued to the bottom of the machine reads: MONROE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION [/] A DIVISION OF LITTON INDUSTRIES [/] ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. A list of 28 patents on this sticker ranges from number 2,473,422 (1949) to D-192,457 (1962). A metal tag attached to the bottom of the machine reads: MODEL CSAE-10 [/] SERIAL B066597. Scratched on the frame at the back are the initials: EHS.

This is a relatively late mechanical calculating machine, produced by Monroe after it became a division of Litton Industries in 1958. The rough date is based on the patent date.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1966

maker

Monroe International Corporation, a Division of Litton Business Systems

This is a twin Brunsviga calculating machine. The pinwheel lever-set non-printing machine has a metal housing painted black, a metal mechanism, a wooden base, and a metal cover. It consists of two adjacent and interconnected instruments. Each has ten levers for setting numbers, with the number set appearing in a row of windows above the levers. The two result registers are on a single carriage at the front of the machine, and the two revolution registers are in back of the respective levers. The handle for operating both machines extends from the right side. All the registers have zeroing levers and decimal markers.

A mark on the right front carriage reads: BRUNSVIGA-MASCHINENWERKE (/) GRIMME, NATALIS & CO.A.-G. A stamp on the left front gives the model and serial number: BRUNSVIGA 13Z-18 (/) 200118

This is the oldest surviving example of the type of stepped drum calculating machine constructed under patents obtained by the Frenchman Charles Xavier Thomas of the French town of Colmar in 1820. Machines that could do arithmetic automatically were built as mechanical marvels in the 1600s on the design of mathematicians such as Blaise Pascal and Gottfried Leibniz. However, it was only with the introduction and improvement of the machine of Thomas that calculating machines became part of the world of practical calculation. The instrument was made for Thomas by the Parisian mechanician and clockmaker Devrine. Thomas arithmometers, as the machines were called, became the first commercially successful calculating machines.

The brass machine fits snugly in a wooden case covered with red leather and lined with green velvet. It has three levers that are moved back to enter digits on brass stepped drums. A fourth lever, to the left of these, is labeled Multiplication, and used to determine the number of times the stepped drums rotate. Hence in this early machine, Thomas attempted direct multiplication by a single digit. This feature would not be successfully used in calculating machines until the late 19th century.

In back of the digit levers is a movable carriage with a row of six pairs of windows. Beneath each pair is a button. The levers are labeled: Unités, Dixaines, and Centaines. The pairs of windows are labeled: Unité, Dixaine, Centaine, Mille, Dix Mille, and Cent Mille.

Beneath each window is a numeral wheel. Two sets of digits are marked on each wheel, one in black and the other in red. Shifting a lever on the right of the carriage to “add e multiplication” opens six windows to show in black digits the result of addition and multiplication problems. In the other positions, six windows open to show in red digits the result of division and subtraction problems. Beneath the windows are thumbscrews for zeroing the result digits one at a time. There is no revolution register.

Pulling a red ribbon operates the machine. Pulling a shorter ribbon attached to the front assists in removing it from the case. Later Thomas machines would be crank-operated. The lid of the case has a brass handle, lock, and key. Part of the right side of the case turns down to allow for the motion of the carriage.

A mark on the left of the levers reads: Arithmomètre (/) du Chr. Thomas de Colmar (/) Par Brevet d’invention (/) Devrine fecit. A mark on a button at the front of the machine reads: Régulateur. A mark on the top of the lid reads: ARITHMOMÊTRE (/) De MR. LE CHER THOMAS DE COLMAR.

The machine is not identical to that shown in the drawings of Thomas’s 1820 patent. It resembles the drawings made in 1821 for a report by Hoyau published in 1822.

This stepped drum manual non-printing calculating machine has a brass and steel mechanism held in a wooden case. A stepped drum is under each of ten levers that are pushed back to enter digits. The brass plate that covers the drums and top of the machine has slits in it to allow these and other parts to move. The edges of the slits next to digit levers are numbered from 0 to 9 to indicate the digit entered. A lever to the left of these is either pushed back for addition and multiplication or forward for subtraction and division. Further to the left is a compartment that holds the key to the machine. The lid is missing. Right of the digit levers is a crank for operating the machine. It has an ivory handle, which bends down to the left when not in use so that the lid closes.

Behind the levers is a movable carriage with 11 windows for the revolution register and 20 windows for the result register. Rotating a black knob on the right of the carriage zeros the revolution register, and rotating a knob on the left of the carriage zeros the result register. Rotating thumbscrews on the carriage enter numbers in both the revolution and the result registers. Decimal markers would fit in holes between the windows of the registers, but the markers are missing. The case is painted black and the lid is shaped so that it fits in holes in the sides of the case that allow for motion of the zeroing mechanisms in the carriage.

This full-keyboard, non-printing electric pinwheel calculating machine has nine columns of plastic keys, colored according to the place value of digits entered. At the base of each bank of keys is a red clearance key. The underlying keyboard is painted green. Between banks of keys are metal rods for decimal markers. To the right of the keyboard are bars for subtraction and addition; a red ADD key, depressed for automatic clearance after each operation; and a stem for a clear key (the key is missing). Still further to the right is a column of nine keys for automatic multiplication. Left of the keyboard is a switch for the motor.

Behind the keyboard is a movable carriage with 18 windows for the result register. Above this is a nine-digit entry register and a nine-digit revolution register. Clearance keys for these registers are to the right. At the back of the machine is the electric motor. The machine has an aluminum base and four rubber feet.

This full-keyboard, non-printing electric proportional gear calculating machine has a metal case painted black and ten columns of green and white color-coded plastic keys. There is a red tabulator set key at the bottom of each column. These keys are numbered from 1 on the right to 10 on the left. The underlying keyboard is gold. Between banks of keys are rotating metal rods for decimal markers.

Right of the number keys are auto divide and stop keys, subtraction and addition bars, shift keys for use in multiplication, and a reverse key. In front of these are clearance keys for the tab set and the dials. Right of these is a column of ten keys for automatic multiplication and two carriage shift keys. Above the number keys is a row of ten windows to show a number set up (the decimal markers extend from between the number keys to between these windows).

Behind the entry register is a movable carriage with an 20-window result register and an 11-window revolution register. The registers on the carriage have sliding decimal markers. The motor is at the back of the machine, inside the case. Numbers are represented by the rotation of sets of gears on three shafts under the carriage. The machine sits on a stand (1988.0313.02) and has a black rubber cord.

A mark on the back of the machine reads: MARCHANT. A mark on the bottom reads: ACT10M-186265. A property tag at the front reads: PROPERTY OF (/) ESSA (/) 132015. A tag at the back reads: NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS (/) 510780.

In July 1966, part of the National Bureau of Standards merged with the Coast & Geodetic Survey and the Weather Bureau to form the Environmental Science Services Administration. In 1970, the activities of the ESSA were transferred to the newly extablished National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, which was part of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (formerly NBS). This machine was transferred to the Smithsonian by NOAA.

Compare to Harold T. Avery’s 1940 U.S. patents 2,216,659, 2,211,736, and 2,217,195. See SCM Collection for related trade literature. The model ACT10M apparently was produced from 1940 until 1948.

Those who bought calculating machines often purchased stands on which to use them. This one was designed to support the Marchant ACT10M machine. It is made of iron and steel tubing, with four rubber wheels and a wooden shelf. The dimensions given assume the shelf is down.

A label on the front of the stand reads: Property of (/) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT (/) Environmental Science (/) Services Administration